SA collects 23 medals at World Gold Panning Championships in New Zealand
Sonet Mitton led a podium sweep in the Proficient Women division as Team SA shone at a world event held in Cromwell.
South African panners collected 23 medals at the 2026 World Gold Panning Championships in Cromwell, New Zealand, highlighted by a podium sweep in the Proficient Women division.
The performance was led by the Proficient Women Final, where South Africa took all three podium places, according to a statement posted to Facebook by the SA Gold Panning Association. Sonet Mitton won gold, Cheryl Vieira took silver and Bea van Biljon won bronze. Five South African women finished in the top 10 of the category.
Individual and team podiums
All three medalists in the women’s event successfully retrieved seven out of seven target flakes. Mitton completed the task in a raw time of 01:40, ahead of Vieira (02:10) and Van Biljon (02:21).
In the junior division, Chris Liebenberg won gold, while Joy Malatjie finished fourth.
In the Proficient Men Final, Sanjay Singh earned a bronze medal for South Africa. Singh retrieved eight target flakes in a raw time of 01:48.
Team SA added to their total by winning gold in the five-person Black Panthers team event, comprising Chester Nthombeni, Savera Mohangi, Essie Mogane, Goodness Mashego and Singh. The Springboks team took silver, South Africa secured silver in the three-person team event, and the national five-person team won bronze.
Administrative re-election
Off the field of competition, Singh chaired the annual general meeting of the World Goldpanning Association (WGA) in Cromwell on Wednesday (September 30). Delegates unanimously re-elected him as WGA president for a two-year term to oversee the organisation’s non-profit registration process.
New Zealand Member of Parliament Miles Anderson joined the team in celebration, sending warm wishes to Mpumalanga Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation MEC Leah Mabuza.
The championships, held at Cromwell Racecourse from last Friday (September 25) until yesterday (October 3), were hosted by the Otago Goldfields Heritage Trust. The event opened with a Parade of Nations at the Alexandra Blossom Festival.
South Africa’s gold panning tradition has deep roots in Mpumalanga, where the South African Gold Panning Association was founded in 1997. Pilgrim’s Rest has hosted the World Championships three times.
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